Abstract: As we enter a new decade, a variety of scientific and environmental challenges face us.  The demand for a safer and cleaner environment coupled with population growth presents our global society with challenges on a scale we haven’t faced before.  One of our defining problems is a rapidly warming climate; a consequence of enormous increases in emissions, especially carbon.  Any complex problem requires equally complex solutions.  One of these complex solutions is green energy. 

Green energy technology presents some innovative ways of thinking about our global economies and social environments; the way businesses and people interact with the environment and with one another.  But the cornerstone of green energy and the ability to use it rests upon on the availability of minerals. Simply put, green energy is driving an unprecedented demand for minerals…and it is just getting started.

Minerals are a critical part of our response to climate change.  They are a pivotal resource driving the revolutionary green energy movement; and ultimately how mining will propel the green energy economy.

Biography: Brian has over 12 years of experience in the mineral exploration and mining industry servicing clients and their projects across North America.  A classical exploration geologist by training, he quickly carved out a specialty as a progressive entrepreneur within the metal and mineral industries.

In 2010, Brian co-founded Big Rock Exploration, a geological and technical consulting firm specializing in metals and minerals.  Over the past decade, he has helped to establish Big Rock as a leader in North America for geological consulting with a team of over 35 staff.  Brian has worked on projects in almost all metals and minerals including, precious & base metals, industrial minerals and aggregates, battery metals; and a variety of specialty minerals including Uranium, gemstones and dimension stone.

Today, Brian is co-founder and owner in a number of mineral asset and development companies, including F3 Gold and Relevant Resources. He is also an executive member of Exsolve, an emerging recycling technology company that has developed a technology focused on extracting high-value battery metals from industrial metal waste.

Brian is a Certified Professional Geologist through the American Institute of Professional Geologists.  He is a Licensed Responsible Explorer through the MN Department of Health and an active member in a number of industry organizations including Society of Economic Geology (SEG), Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME), Mineralogical Association of Canada (MAC), Geological Society of America (GSA), Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), and others.